Monthly Archives: April 2020

Crazy Days of Coronavirus

By Frank Sargeant, Editor
from The Fishing Wire

So how much has the coronavirus pandemic impacted the country?

Remember how you used to get arrested if you went in a store wearing a face mask? Now, you get arrested if you go in a store NOT wearing a face mask.

Remember how your wife used to make you leave your clothes in the garage after a fishing trip? Now, you can wear your fishing clothes into the house, but you have to leave them in the garage if you go to the grocery store.

Remember how your wife used to complain that you didn’t spend enough time at home? Heard that lately? “I Miss Missing You” has taken on a whole new meaning . . . .

Remember how you used to hate to get up to go to work? Now, many of us are starting to just hate getting up.

The carbon footprint of developed countries has plunged to levels not seen in 150 years—and environmentalists are unhappy because their donations are down.

They’re giving gasoline away, and nobody wants to drive.

GM is building ventilators instead of cars and trucks, and fishing tackle companies are molding medical face shields instead of lures.

It’s gotten so weird that the Republicans are trying to give away public money, and the Democrats are trying to stop them!

You used to shake hands with your friends and nod to your enemies. Now, you nod to your friends and give your enemies a big hug.

Some are so concerned about prisoners getting coronavirus they’re releasing them, so the rest of us can be concerned about getting mugged.

Crack dealers, low on customers, are selling black-market Lysol on street corners.
We old farts who everyone wishes would get out of the way at Wal-Mart now have our own dedicated shopping hour—first one to the toilet paper aisle wins!

And our Big Orange President has finally turned gray. Not only his orange hair but also his orange face wore more natural hues at Wednesday’s press conference. (My wife, perhaps his biggest fan, thinks it’s a change for the better.)

Sniffin’ Joe has so far not commented.

All we can do is muddle through, try to grin occasionally, and bear it.

And maybe sneak off for a bit of fishing at our secret spot now and then.

This too, like the most obnoxious of kidney stones, shall pass.

Naming Places On A Lake

I spent the week before Easter at my place at Clarks Hill “social distancing” myself and meeting DJ Hadden to get information for my May GON article. When I called Linda on Wednesday and told her I caught a two-pounder in Broken Rod Cove and a four-pounder on Lost Hat bank, she knew exactly where I had fished.

I think it’s a habit of fishermen and hunters to name places they frequent. Over the years Linda and I named most of the coves and points we fished. But some of the names went back a long way before that.

When Clarks Hill was dammed it filled an old gulley that ran along a road going across the lake. Alongside the old road, the gulley banks dropped off between five and ten feet to the water level. We called that place The Cliffs and my church group camped there often.

When my family first started camping we put up our tents between the old road and the gulley and spent many happy days and nights there. We swam during the day, trying to touch bottom in the “bottomless” gulley. I found out later in life with my sonar it was about 15 feet deep but we never could go down that far.

At night we built a fire on the edge of the cliff, put out our catfish baits and sat around the fire, often all night. I can still smell the pine logs burning and the burn of the smoke blowing in my eyes, and hear the adults’ low voices as I tried to fight off sleep.

The Corps of Engineers closed off the old road, denying access to the cliffs. Then they dug out the banks of the cliffs for dirt for road construction. The gulley is still there underwater but gone are the memory-making places on the bank.

Lost Hat bank got its name from a windy March day Linda and I fished it. She had bought a nice terry cloth hat with a bill and was wearing it for the first time. A gust of wind blew it off her head into the water. Unlike other caps that will float long enough to pick them up, hers sank before I could turn the boat to get it.

A cove we fished often for crappie and bass got the name Broken Rod cove after I broke not one but two rods while fishing it one year. We spent many happy hours dabbling minnows and jigs around button bushes when the crappie were up shallow and caught bass around its rockpiles and stumps year-round.

Carp Cove was named after mom and I fished it one day and saw a huge carp dying on the surface. Turtle Cove was full of willow trees in the back and there were always dozens of turtles sunning on the low limbs and trunks and keeping a wary eye on us as we fished in the spring. I could almost hear them say “please don’t get so close I have to get back in that cold water.”

Duck Cove, Cathy’s Cove, Swallow Island and many more places were named over the years. Unfortunately, when I go to those places alone now the “ghosts” of the past haunt me. I get too sad to really want to fish, remembering and realizing those times are gone and will never come again.

Stream Smallmouths in Spring

Locating Stream Smallmouths in Spring
By Alex McCrickard, DGIF Aquatic Education Coordinator
from The Fishing Wire

Anglers across Virginia and other mountain states often associate spring with trout fishing season. Mountain streams are typically in prime flow conditions during this time of the year, and spring hatches have the fish feeding regularly. However, trout shouldn’t be the only fish on anglers’ minds during this time of the year.

Spring also coincides with great opportunities to target smallmouth bass as rivers across the Allegheny and Blue Ridge chains warm up from the winter months. Water temperatures warming is a thermal cue that triggers increased metabolism and activity of smallmouth bass, creating excellent fishing conditions across the state for bronzeback enthusiasts.

River Conditions and Smallmouth Biology
On average years during late winter, water temperatures climb out of the 30s and into the 40s on rivers and streams across the state. As winter transitions to spring, water temperatures will continue to increase into the upper 40s and 50s. Smallmouth bass will react favorably to the warming trends and these fish will move out of the winter holes and into transitionary water in mid to late March.

By late March, smallmouth can consistently be found holding in the middle of the water column behind mid-river boulders and along the edges of current seams where fast water meets slow water. These fish can also be found holding along ledges, drops offs, in riffles, and even along the banks.Mid to late March signals the beginning of pre-spawn activity for smallmouth bass.

Spawning typically begins in late April and continues all through the month of May on our Virginia rivers and streams. During pre-spawn, smallmouth can be very aggressive as they get territorial and put on weight for the spawning season. These fish actively ambush smaller forage fish and crayfish during this time of the year. Late March and April can provide for exciting fishing during the pre-spawn feeding frenzy.

Smallmouth bass are benthic spawners; males build nests in clean substrate including gravel, pebble, and cobble bottom. Males are cued to start this process when water temperatures climb into the 60s. These fish often seek out softer currents in 2 to 6 feet of water behind boulders, logs, or other obstructions when choosing spawning sites. Male smallmouth will dig a depression into the river bottom before spawning with a female.

After the spawn, males will stick around and guard their nests from aquatic and terrestrial predators. Spawning success is highly dependent on spring flows. High, muddy water from heavy spring rain events can impact smallmouth bass recruitment and spawning success.

Because smallmouth are benthic spawners, high water in the spring time can wash beds out or cover them up with sediment, impacting recruitment and leading to variations in abundance of certain age classes within the population.

Spring can often coincide with high flows on rivers and streams across Virginia. Late winter snow melt and early spring rains can sometimes put rivers at flood level stages. Make sure to exercise caution during this time of the year and check the flows before you head to the river. In these high flows, smallmouth will orient to cover where they don’t have to fight super strong currents to find food. Even in high, muddy water, smallmouth are looking for meals and can be caught with a little persistence and determination as long as the river isn’t in flood stage.

Tactics and Techniques
It can be best to cover water when fishing for pre-spawn smallmouth bass. Floating the larger rivers during this time of the year is a great way to accomplish this, just remember to wear your personal flotation device. If you are wade-fishing smaller to medium-size rivers, don’t be afraid to do some hiking to cover ground on foot.

The pre-spawn bite is best approached by fishing subsurface minnow imitations in late March through April. Make sure to have some crankbaits on hand in a variety of colors during this time of the year. Rattling lipless crankbaits or noisy lipped crankbaits can be productive when the water is high and stained. The Rat-L-Trap causes commotion that attracts spring bass in these conditions. Soft plastic swimbaits like the Keitech Swing Impact Swimbait or Sassy Shads work well and sink deep quickly when fished on a jig head. Flashy spinnerbaits also entice strikes from spring smallmouth in stained water conditions.

The author pauses during a float trip to fish from a mid-river boulder on the James River. Waffles, his trusty fishing dog, loves catching Virginia smallmouth. Photo by Walker DalesWhen fly fishing our larger rivers, consider stripping streamers on a 250-grain full sinking line when the water is high and off color. The full sinking line gets your streamer down quickly when in heavy current. In average flows, you will be able to get away with a sink tip on our larger rivers and simply a floating line on our smaller to medium-sized rivers. The Half & Half is my favorite pattern to fish this time of the year. Chartreuse and white, tan and white, or olive and white are good color combinations. This bulky pattern pushes a lot of water and draws in strikes from big pre-spawn bass.

Clouser minnows and Chuck Kraft’s Kreelex are good “go-to patterns” during this time of the year. The flashy profile of the Kreelex does a great job of attracting smallmouth in high, stained flows. Doug Lane, local guide and owner of Angler’s Lane fly shop in Lynchburg, mentioned that “one can expect to catch some of the most aggressive fighting smallmouth during the pre-spawn weeks of March and early April. Chuck Kraft once told me the key is to work one’s fly more slowly than one is accustomed to in the summer. This nugget from a wise fishing guide, the first full-time river smallmouth guide in Virginia, makes tremendous sense when you consider that the water is somewhat cooler, and the fish are often removing your presentation away from the area they are looking to spawn in.”

Also consider carrying large articulated streamers in your fly box during this time of the year. Remember, it pays to cover water during this time of the year, especially if you are floating. It’s important to target the right habitat, like mid-river boulders, ledges, drop-offs, or the tail-outs of mid-river islands, as you float downstream.

Topwater flies and lures will become more productive as summer approaches and April turns to May. Sometimes the bite can be tricky during the prime spawning month of May. During the spawn, smallmouth can sometimes refrain from eating actively. However, there are certainly fish to be caught in May as some smallmouth will spawn earlier than others. All in all, spring offers a welcome change from the slower fishing that occurs during the winter months. Strongly consider adding smallmouth to your list of favorite species to target as the trees bloom and the grass grows.

COVID-19 and Fishing Trips

The COVID-19 virus has disrupted our world in many ways. Fortunately, fishing is on the “essential” list and being out on the water is a good way to social distance yourself.

Pictures on “Fazebook” show that many folks are taking advantage of time off and cheap gas to go fishing.

The week before the full moon in April – last week – is considered by many to be the best week of the year to fish. Catches on all area lakes seemed to back that up. This week may be the second best of the year.

Although fishing is allowed, I worried about going to Alabama since I had to stay two nights in a motel. It did not help when I got to the Motel 6 where I had reservations and the door was locked. They did check-in through the night window only. And the opening was closed off, I could barely hear the proprietor asking me questions. He did not even take my driver’s license to copy as is usual, he just copied down the number through the window.

Since I prepaid, he did not have to touch my credit card.

I usually eat out, but this time I took prepared meals I could heat up in the microwave in my room. And as soon as I got in the room I wiped everything down with sanitary wipes.

The Flint River Bass club canceled our tournament last weekend at Oconee. Although we could have gone, keeping six feet apart is difficult when collecting and paying out money as well as weighing fish. And as tournament director I would have been the one handling all the money!

Safe is better than sorry. We can have a tournament later!

Spawning Pike

The Parade of Spawning Pike Captures with Aqua-Vu

from The Fishing Wire

Crosslake, MN– Right now, across Earth’s northern-most latitudes, water wolves are stirring. Even while ice cover still encases many lakes, this spectacular freshwater predator is already on the prowl. As Esox lucius migrates en masse into shallow bays, river backwaters and sloughs, however, it’s procreation rather than predation that propels their journey.

Standing at the mouths of these same shallow bays, renowned freshwater photographer Bill Lindner doesn’t have to wait long to witness the earliest spring spawning movements of northern pike. For decades, via scuba mask and underwater camera, Lindner has filmed and documented the remarkable, rarely-seen behaviors of pike and countless other fish.

Chances are, if you’ve marveled at an underwater photograph in any of the top freshwater fishing publications, you’ve seen Lindner’s work. Likewise, you’ve almost certainly seen Lindner’s underwater video material, some of the most compelling freshwater footage ever recorded, much of it captured via Aqua-Vu underwater cameras.

This day in early April, Lindner is filming pods of pike, as they assemble at the tiny opening between a large Minnesota lake and a shallow backwater slough, where fish will shortly begin to spawn. “Even when there’s just a small clearing of open water at the mouth of a creek and the rest of the lake is ice-covered,” Lindner observes, “I’ve watched sizeable pods of small male pike begin their investigation of spawning zones. A few days later, like this year, we’ll see a major movement of big 10- to 20-pound females start to appear. Soon, the fish begin to mingle and divide themselves into spawning groups. Usually, each big female is accompanied and courted by two or three much smaller males.”

To document the yearly ceremony, Lindner attaches an Aqua-Vu HD10i Pro camera to the end of a telescopic painters pole, quietly probing the shallows haunted by pike. “Usually we can stand on shore or use a pair of waders and get right up next to these shallow fish,” notes Lindner. “The pike are spooky, but if you take your time and avoid disturbing the area, you can capture some spectacular underwater behaviors. The color and light-gathering properties of the Aqua-Vu lens yields some spectacular footage, while the viewscreen shows you a live picture right on site. That’s a big advantage over GoPro style cameras.

”High-definition underwater optics help unlock the mysterious habits of northern pike.

Interestingly, while pike begin their prespawn migration when water temps still range in the mid to upper 30s (Fahrenheit), biological research indicates that actual spawning often peaks between 50- and 64-degrees in secluded backwater areas that warm quickly when subjected to powerful midday sunshine. Simultaneously, main lake areas may still be ice covered or may still harbor water temperatures in the low 40s during this phase. While the prespawn staging period can last up to a few weeks, spawning itself may span from four days to three weeks, depending on local weather patterns. Peak spawning typically occurs between 2pm and 6pm when water temp reaches its daily peak.

Studies have also shown that, like salmon, pike exhibit spawning-site fidelity, returning to the same locales spring after spring. Broadcasting her eggs around vegetation in approximately 2-feet of water, each female pike may spawn twice a day, eggs fertilized by one to five attending males. Spawning does not occur on a nest, rather egg masses drift and collect on strands of vegetation, such as elodea, stonewort and milfoil, as well as emergent plant stems of sedges and reed canary grass. Farmers have even reported spawning pike and pike eggs adhering to flooded, broken hay bales in inundated fields and drainage ditches.

Most female northern pike produce between 15,000 and 75,000 eggs, though the largest specimens can yield in excess of 200,000 eggs. Research indicates that while pike typically mature at age four, excessive angler harvest of large fish often induce pike to mature as early as age-1, which can quickly produce an overabundance of small or stunted fish incapable of growing to trophy proportions.

“When you sit and watch the miraculous, fascinating process of spawning and comprehend the rarity of these spectacular spawning females,” says Lindner, “it’s hard to imagine killing even a single one of these fish.“Over the years, I’ve been lucky enough to witness and capture some astonishing underwater fish behavior: including spawning walleyes, pike and muskies, low-light movements of crappies, the gang-feeding habits of smallmouth bass and so much more,” Lindner recalls. “Each time, I come away with a greater appreciation of all the amazing spectacles and rituals happening below the surface.

A lot of anglers never get to see what’s really happening below, but with an Aqua-Vu, they can.”View Online Version

About Aqua-Vu
The Original Underwater Viewing System, Aqua-Vu® is manufactured by Outdoors Insight, Inc., and has led the underwater camera category in design, innovation and quality since 1997. The Central Minnesota based company builds other popular outdoors products, such as the iBall Trailer Hitch Camera (iballhitchcam.com). For more information on Aqua-Vu, visit www.aquavu.com.

Fishing Pickwick for Smallmouth, Largemouth and Meanmouth

I went to Pickwick in northwest Alabama for my May Alabama Outdoor News article and fished with Cody Harrison. April Fools Day fooled us with high winds, strong current and cold weather but Cory showed how well he knows the lake and the habits of the bass there.

He landed two smallmouth in the 3.5 to four pound range, a largemouth that size and a pretty “meanmouth” bass a little smaller

Pickwich has largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass and they sometimes mate, especially smallmouth and spotted bass. That hybrid is common enough it is named a “meanmouth,” it has the colors of a smallmouth but they are brighter, and they have a tooth patch on the tongue like a spot. And they fight like crazy.

Cody likes some current in the river and said when the dam is releasing somewhere between 20,000 and 70,000 cubic feet per second of water it is good. Lower and the fish don’t bite very good, higher and it is hard to fish. The day we fished the release was around 90,000 CFS!

All his fish hit a bladed jig fished in current eddies along main river gravel banks. The fish were getting ready to span in those places. It was a fun but long trip, the longest I make doing these articles. We were in the corner of Alabama, Tennessee and Mississippi, a long way from Griffin!

Trolling for Trout

Trolling for Trout works!

By Buzz Ramsey, Yakima Baits
from The Fishing Wire

Rainbow and other trout (brown, brook and cutthroat) offer anglers fishing success in lakes and reservoirs where trolling is a popular way to catch them. Some water bodies host wild fish populations that sustain fisheries. But what populates most trout waters across America, from New York to Oregon, are millions of hatchery fish raised by State Fish & Wildlife and Federal agencies before release into local waters – all for you and me to catch.

Living in the Pacific Northwest, we spend much of our fishing time chasing salmon and steelhead, but pursue trout and other fish each-and-every year too. And while the trout planted in the lakes near our home are not always big, usually averaging 12-to-14 inches, we sometimes catch fish nearing the ten pound mark. These trout are fun to catch on light tackle and a challenge when bigger than expected.

Whether you move your boat along with a pair of oars or motor, what makes trolling effective is the amount of water you can cover, which pretty much guarantees the lures trailing behind your boat will come in contact with hungry fish.

The uses of oars or an electric trolling motor are popular means of propulsion when trolling because they facilitate slow going. For example, electric trolling motors are designed with a variable speed control that starts at zero. If your method of propulsion is a gas outboard, getting it to idle down may require a fresh tank of gasoline and, perhaps, a pre-adventure tune-up for it to run smoothly at low idle.

While trolling slowly is important, so is trolling in an erratic pattern. Fish that are initially attracted to your gear may lose interest if your offering doesn’t run away or swim erratically when approached. You can somewhat mimic this injured-prey reaction from predatory fish by zigzagging or changing your boat speed, which will sometimes trigger following fish to striking before their curiosity wanes.

The one lure that has changed our trolling success more than any other is a plug called the Mag Lip. Mag Lip is distinctive due to its ability to dive extra-deep while yielding an erratic, darting “skip-beat” action that produces savage strikes from fish. The “skip-beat” action produced by Mag Lip adds greatly to what we can achieve by changing boat speed and direction. The strike response due to the “skip-beat” action can be compared to how a house cat pounces when coaxed with a ball-and-string.

Many guides and anglers report a higher hook-to-land ratio when using Mag Lip as compared to other lures and credit the savage strikes and better hook-to-land ratio to the unique action produced by this relative new to-the-market lure.

Determining the correct trolling speed depends on what lures you employ combined with the pace trout might respond to best. For example, you might troll a small FlatFish somewhere between a half and one (1) MPH, since this plug was designed to produce frantic action when pulled slowly.

Trolling FlatFish at the speed they perform best can be especially effective when water temps are cool, fish are less aggressive, or when the forage they seek matches the size and color of this high-action plug. For spinner, spoon and plugs, like Mag Lip, the right trolling speed is usually in the range of 1 to 1-1/2 MPH, with 2 MPH considered fast on most waters.

When forward trolling, try positioning your lines at different distances behind your boat. Although the most productive distance might vary depending on water clarity and how boat shy fish might be, a good place to start is to run your lines from 50-to-100 feet out. Staggering the distance of each line means your gear will make multiple passes by the fish, increasing the chance of an encounter.

Another thing to keep in mind when trolling is the depth you position your gear. For example, trout might be found near the surface when the light is low, like early or late in the day and when overcast, but go deep when the sun is bright. Therefore, positioning your lines deeper during the middle of the day might keep the bite going. Water temperature can also affect where fish might be found as they will likely go deeper or suspend at a preferred temperature zone when surface temperatures get uncomfortable from summertime heat.

While Mag Lip dives deep the depth achieved varies based on line test (diameter), and distance out. For example, all according to Mark Romanack of Fishing 411 TV fame’s Precision Trolling App, the 2.5 (2-1/2 inch) size Mag Lip will dive eight feet with 50 feet of let out and ten feet with 75 feet of let out – this data is based on ten-pound test Berkley XT monofilament. You can add another foot of dive if using ten pound test Fireline, as this high-tech line is thinner than monofilament of the same test.

And while Mag Lip is our favorite plug for trout, we make use of other lures too. For example, there are times when a slow-trolling presentation produces best, which is when we employ the wild action produced by small FlatFish (sizes F-3 to F-7 for trout) at speeds ranging from a half to one mile-per-hour (MPH). Perhaps due to when trout are feeding on minnows, thin bladed spoons, like a Triple Teaser, sometimes out produce other lures when trolled from 1-to-2 MPH.

The vibrating/fish-calling action of a spinner, like a Rooster Tail, works when forward trolled too. If you troll a spinner, keep in mind that their action can twist fishing line. Therefore, it’s important to rig a ball-bearing or other quality swivel twenty or so inches from your spinner or halfway down your leader when rigged in combination with a sinker, attractor, downrigger, or bottom walker.

Adding a fish attractant to any lure can increase its effectiveness. You’ll find an innumerable array of scents available for this purpose. In addition to spraying my lures with an attractant, like Rooster Tail Scent Spray from Yakima Baits, I often add a short section (usually a half inch or so) from a scent-filled worm, grub or maggot (PowerBait or Gulp!) to the hook of my plug, spinner or spoon – just rig it to hang straight back.

If you tip spoons, be advised that employing too large a tip can deaden their action – so keep tipping baits extra short on spoons. Although the above tipping baits are available in different colors, we’ve found the white or black colors often produce best, at least on the trout lakes near our home.

Buzz Ramsey is Brand Manager for Yakima Bait Company and a member of the management team – www.yakimabait.com. Find Buzz on Facebook/Instagram.

Breaking Fishing Equipment

My trip to Eufaula in March was tough on equipment, but I did not realize it until the next weekend. Some of it was wear and tear over time, some from stupidity and some from just bad luck.

At Bartletts Ferry the next weekend while re-tying a Chatterbait something just did not look right. On close inspection, the clip holding the line to the lure had corroded and the hook holding it together was gone.

I had caught two good bass on it the weekend before and lost a four pounder that just pulled off. I don’t think the broken clip had anything to do with that but will never know. I do know that if I had hooked another bass on the lure the hook would have come open and I would have lost lure and fish.

Fortunately, it was a regular Chatterbait costing about $6, not their Jackhammer costing $18! But even an inexpensive lure from a big company should not corrode like that.

The next day I picked up my St. Croix crankbait rod, tried to cast it and something was wrong. I looked and the first guide from the reel was bent. When I tried to straighten it, I saw the rod itself was crushed. It had been stepped on!I don’t remember stepping on it but may have since I have so many on my boat deck while fishing.

When I got home I contacted St Croix warranty service about sending it back, and was told due to the COVID–19 problem I should just send in pictures of the break and the serial number and it would be replaced for $85, less than one third the cost of a new one

.A couple of days later they called me. Although the rod was about ten years old, and the break was obviously damage, not a defect, it was still under warranty and they replaced it for only $50!

You can not get better service or warranty from anybody.

While all this was going on, I noticed a reel laying under the rods in my back rod holder. It had fallen off a rod. At first I thought it has just vibrated loose, but when I looked the ear that holds one end of the reel to the rod was broken off. That is not repairable!

I had to replace my back running light at Eufuala when I let the wind blow the back of the boat under an overhanging bush and broke the pole.

Maybe my run of bad luck is over, but with a bass boat and a lot of fishing equipment, there will be other problems.

Potato Creek Bassmasters Classic on Bartletts Ferry

The Wednesday after my Oconee tournmqent I went to Blanton Creek Park to camp, social distance myself, and practice for the Potato Creek Bassmasters Club Classic on Bartletts Ferry Saturday. The campground was crowded, a lot of people seemed to think the same way about avoiding coronavirus. The lake crowd seemed to be like
Memorial Day or July 4^th weekend!

Thursday it was very cool so I waited to go out until about 10:00. I just knew the big largemouth would be moving in to feed in river sloughs so I looked at them. I had heard it took 17 pounds to win a Tuesday night tournament the week before, and 19 to win one on Saturday, so I just knew the big ones would bite for me.

Wrong. I never had a bite.

Friday I looked at some more river sloughs, marked some brush piles, and got no bites. The river was ripping with the West Point dam releasing water 24 hours a day. The current was so strong it was almost impossible to fish. At one point I drifted with the current as I got ready to move, and my GPS showed I was moving 2.5 miles per hour!

That afternoon I ran over to Hawalaka Creek where I usually fish. The water there is always clear and it is full of spots, but they are mostly small and I did not think I could do well in the tournament there. The first cove I went in I saw a two-pounder hovering by a small brush pile in two feet of water, then another one about that size go under a dock.

I cast a wacky rigged Senko for a few minutes and caught a 1.5-pound largemouth out of some shade by a seawall. That made me realize fish were easier to catch doing that.

Saturday morning I had high hopes to catch a decent largemouth in the river sloughs early, but in the first one I fished at daylight I caught four short fish and felt others nipping at my spinnerbait and bladed jig. They just were not hitting good.

I did make a couple of good decisions during the day. After fishing two more sloughs without a bite I decided to go to Hawalaka Creek and try to catch something. As I headed that way I decided to try one more slough.

Back in it on a point I landed a 2.07 pound largemouth on a shaky head. A little further down the bank I saw a swirl near a seawall, cast to it and landed another two-pound largemouth. That fired me up but after another hour of fishing the area, I had not gotten another bite.

I ran to Hawalaka creek and caught two keeper spots off the first dock I fished, then my fifth keeper on the next dock. With almost six hours left to fish I went back to the river trying to catch a bigger fish, but no bites.

I went back to where I had seen the fish the day before and caught two spots that did not help, then a largemouth that did cull my smallest spot. When I headed to the ramp I decided to fish one last place and caught another spot that culled again.

I did not think my little limit would do any good.

In the tournament 17 of us fished from 7:30 AM to 5:00 PM, landing 54 keepers weighing about 82 pounds. There were seven five-bass limits and three people did not have a keeper.

Raymond English won with four weighing 9.21 pounds and had big fish with a 4.76 pounder. Drew Naramore was second with four at 8.51 pounds. I was shocked with my five weighing 7.85 tied with Lee Hancock’s five for third place. Fifth was Edward Folker with five weighing 7.48 pounds.

I hoped to actually LAND a big one this weekend at Oconee in the Flint River tournament but it got canceled!

Fish Safely During COVID-19

How to Fish Safely During COVID-19

B.A.S.S.
By Dave Precht
from The Fishing Wire

Editor’s note: Bassmaster has a new section called Fish Smart, with social hashtags #fishsmart and #livesmart. Click here for more related stories and videos.

The lake one day this week was no more crowded than it usually is on a warm Saturday morning in spring — except this wasn’t Saturday. It was midweek during the COVID-19 pandemic emergency. The boat ramp was jammed, and you had to take a number to fish a community hole.

The rapid, unprecedented spread of the coronavirus has forced the closure of schools, businesses, events and any other nonessential gathering of people in our country and across the world. For many of us, being off work or out of school means an opportunity to go bass fishing.

But should we?

“Probably the safest place to be is on the lake right now,” said Dr. Neil Schaffner of Opelika, Ala., an avid bass angler and 40-year veteran of the medical profession. “Everybody knows you’re supposed to practice ‘social distancing’ by staying at least 6 feet away from other people. You can do that when you’re out in the middle of nowhere, in open spaces and open air.

“That doesn’t mean anglers should be oblivious to the dangers of contracting what for some can be a deadly virus, however.

Courtesy of Dr. Neil SchaffnerAn avid bass angler as well as a medical professional involved in the battle against coronavirus, Dr. Neil Schaffner explains how to apply ‘social distancing’ practices in fishing.

“Your biggest risk is at the gas pump,” Schaffner said. “Perhaps 500 people have touched the handle before you picked it up. The second greatest risk might be pulling through a drive-through to get a biscuit on the way to the lake.”

As of this writing, many boat ramp facilities remain open, but some, including Green Pond Landing on Lake Hartwell, have been closed. Schaffner believes officials close some recreational facilities to protect personnel from exposure, while others are closed because restrooms and other facilities can be conduits to spreading the coronavirus.

He says to avoid touching any hard surface without protection. Wear gloves if you can. If you don’t have surgical gloves, work gloves are better than nothing. Anything that provides a barrier between your skin and a contaminated surface can help. Using a paper towel to hold the gas pump handle might save someone from getting the disease, he suggests. Unwrap that biscuit with a napkin and avoid touching any of the packaging. If you visit a fast food restaurant, make sure employees are wearing gloves.

While his recommendations might seem extreme, Schaffner knows what he’s talking about. When I phoned him, he was studying new, promising treatment protocols from Belgium as he prepares to become more directly involved in the battle against the epidemic. The endocrinologist on staff at East Alabama Medical Center in Opelika, Ala., Schaffner’s background is in critical care, including tours as an emergency room physician in the military. If front-line physicians succumb to the virus, Schaffner and others in his position will be called into direct action.

Schaffner well knows that sharing the experience with a buddy makes fishing so much more enjoyable, but in these times, two might be a crowd.

If you’d rather not fish alone, he lists several ways to minimize the danger of catching coronavirus from a fishing buddy.“The good thing is that there’s at least 6 feet between the front pedestal and the back pedestal in a bass boat,” he said.

Still, it’s important to observe extreme caution when considering fishing with another person.

“If your buddy just got off a cruise ship three days ago, I wouldn’t go fishing with him,” Schaffner said. “If your fishing partner is coughing or has any other of the symptoms — fever, aches, sore throat — or has been exposed to someone with coronavirus, don’t go.”

Should you still decide to fish with someone else, do all you can to avoid touching a surface your friend has touched. Agree that the two of you will stay on opposite ends of the boat and not touch anything the other has touched. If you hook a big bass and he nets the fish for you, sanitize the net handle.

Sharing the cab of a pickup brings the two of you into closer proximity, but Schaffner believes normal, steady breathing and conversation shouldn’t be much of a risk. It wouldn’t be a bad idea for both of you to wear masks and to drive with the windows down, he adds.

In these extreme times, what used to be done out of an abundance of caution has now become common sense.

Schaffner, who cohosts (with Rev. Jay Wolf) a local television program on WSFA-TV in Montgomery, Ala., “The Fishin’ Mission,” told me he’s preparing to go fishing this weekend … alone. “I would be a risk to my fishing partner because of my constant exposure and treating patients all day long,” he said. “Right now, I’m living alone, in my basement, apart from my wife and daughter. Their risk of getting the virus is me.”

For more information on protecting yourself and others from coronavirus, visit https://www.coronavirus.gov and https://www.cdc.gov.

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